Intermittent speedometer issue - S1 Elise

[Hobu]

Hi Folks,

I recently purchased a S1 Elise and I'm having issues with the speedometer not moving at all and then when it does come to life it reads approximately 10mph less. The garage have swapped the speed sensor but claim that this is just a S1 Elise trait and most take a while to start working. Since the speed sensor was replaced it worked fine 90 miles home but failed to even move on the last three journeys which is completely useless when I live around average speed cameras.

The garage have been excellent so far and have lots of Lotus experience but I'm becoming slightly skeptical. Before I ask for a refund and return the car has anyone had a similar problem like the garage claim?

Many thanks,

Hobu.

[BiggestNizzy]

It's not an s1 trait I have ever come up against. I have always found the Speedo pretty accurate. I had a broken cable that was causing some problems. It could be a skabby ring on the driveshaft. I was going to say ABS ring as they look/work the same but obviously the car doesn't have ABS.

[Dominic]

Not convinced it's an "S1 trait" - not come across that before. Which Garage are you using?

[robin]

I am pretty sure this will turn out to be either intermittent cabling or a faulty ring on the drive shaft - why do I think this? because they replaced the sensor and it didn't fix it - but disturbing it made it better for a while.

If you like the car, don't return it for such a trivial fault - worst case a new drive shaft is required.

Cheers,
Robin

[Hobu]

Thanks for the reply guys.

I was sure it was not a S1 trait as I did loads of reading on possible problems prior to buying the car. It was not working during the test drive but the rest of the car was in such good condition I decided to buy the car as long as it was fixed. It needed an MOT so I was sure it would be sorted by the Garage. I don't want to mention the Garage name until I know how they plan to resolve the issue but they have lots of Lotus experience and had three Elises in the Garage when I first went to view the car. I have sent an email back explaining that I'm not happy and they need to sort it. I haven't even used a full tank of fuel yet but I have lost confidence in the car, time to test drive an S2! (shots fired! haha)

Thanks,

Hobu.

[Victor Meldrew]

Hi Folks,

I recently purchased a S1 Elise and I'm having issues with the speedometer not moving at all and then when it does come to life it reads approximately 10mph less. The garage have swapped the speed sensor but claim that this is just a S1 Elise trait and most take a while to start working. Since the speed sensor was replaced it worked fine 90 miles home but failed to even move on the last three journeys which is completely useless when I live around average speed cameras.

The garage have been excellent so far and have lots of Lotus experience but I'm becoming slightly skeptical. Before I ask for a refund and return the car has anyone had a similar problem like the garage claim?

Many thanks,

Hobu.

Hi Colin

Selling Lotus cars and working on Lotus cars are very different things. Not something I have heard of before. The speedo is normally absolutely spot on when you are using standard size tires. And I mean absolutely on the money when verified against a TomTom sat nav and a RaceLogic GPS. The speedo is different to most other cars, unless I am mistaken it uses some sort of fancy stepper motor to drive the needles. When you turn on the ignition you should see the speedo and the rev counter needle drive down below the zero position to the lower end stop then both of them settle at the zero position. In effect the needles self calibrate their position every time you turn on the ignition.

I have had an occasion where I disconnected the battery for long term storage and when I reconnected it again the needle did not reset back to the zero position right away. I had to take the key out, leave it a moment and then turn the ignition on again a few times. Each time the needle reset itself closer to the lower end stop. It worked fine after that.

Not sure if that is a help for you or not but you could try pulling over if you think there is an offset and turning the ignition off and on a few times to see if your needle returns to normal position. If it reads correctly at speed after that it may to be a STACK issue. It could help with any fault finding going forward to know if your Stack unit behaves normally.

[campbell]

Also not aware of such a "trait". I've had my S1 a long time.

Not worthy of a return either, IMHO, if rest of the car is sound. If they can't fix it, hand the car to someone who can, then send them the bill.

[StiflerMR2]

If the rest if the car is solid I wouldn't return it for this!

Get it to Craig and have him send them the bill.